Incorrectly Filled Prescription?

Started by DownonthePharm
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DownonthePharm

DownonthePharm

Chillin' n Fillin'
15+ Year Member
Yes, I am doing research for my interview. This seems to be a commonly asked question, but I have never worked in this situation so I have no idea what the answer is.

Is it based on your companies policy? Or are there larger ethical and/or safety principles here?

Would anyone care to share what they would do and why?

Thanks a bunch.
 
I'm not sure exactly what your question is. Do you mean, does it happen we incorrectly fill an rx. What does the company do when this occurs? Please clarify what your question is & perhaps we can help with an answer.
 
I guess I left the question part out of my question. 🙂

The question is "What do you do when someone comes in claiming you filled a prescription wrong?"

What the pharmacist does is I suppose dependent on both personal and the companies principles. As I have no experience with retail, so I was wondering what the answer would be.
 
DownonthePharm said:
I guess I left the question part out of my question. 🙂

The question is "What do you do when someone comes in claiming you filled a prescription wrong?"

What the pharmacist does is I suppose dependent on both personal and the companies principles. As I have no experience with retail, so I was wondering what the answer would be.
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I think the procedure is the same no matter what your practice setting is. First, you ascertain if indeed there was an error....look at the bottle, IV bag, compound, etc..get out the original rx & see if indeed an error was made. If an error was made...whether it was mine or someone elses - the first thing I do is apologize for the error. (IMO - it has taken more than one trip for the pt, nurse, aide, whomever to get the right product & I take time to apologize). Then...I refill the rx correctly. I keep the incorrect product & I make copies of everything - whatever notations, marks, labels were adhered to the original rx along with copies of the correctly filled rx. I refile the originals. Everyplace I have ever worked has an incident reporting mechanism. They used to be handwritten hard copies - these days they are electronic and they go to the corporate office or legal dept of your institution or corporation. I keep a copy & attach it to the other copies. I keep all these copies in the pharmacy. The next step is assessing how damaging the misfill was & making the judgement of how urgently the prescriber needs to be informed - I always inform the prescriber. Finally, I reassure the patient, if it is the patient who brings it to my attention, of the steps I've taken, how potentially damaging the error was to their therapy & how much I will try to never have it happen again. Finally, I ususally reimburse any copays they have paid as a measure of goodwill.
 
As sdn1977 said, the first thing you have to do is figure out the situation. Many times, there may not be an error. And, if there is, it may or may not be an error on the part of pharmacy staff. I allways try to be friendly and helpful, show that I am making an effort to investigate the situation, and keep the patient informed of what is going on and what steps I have taken to find out if an error has occurred. That can involve things like pulling a hard copy, comparing the current NDC to what was filled last month, comparing the contents of a bottle to what is stocked ont he shelf, etc. People are less likely to sue or complain to the state board in a situation where they like their provider and when they feel that steps have been taken to prevent an error from occurring. Studies have shown that you are less likely to be sued if you admit an error than if you try to cover it up. So, I am honest about what has happened. You usually want to make disclosures in a place where others are unlikely to overhear the conversation. Of course, errors have to be fixed. And, if the error had other consequences, those have to be dealt with too. I don't typically reimburse copays. That seems to provide an opportunity for people to make a huge stink. And, in cases where that reimbursement has happened, I find that people never return to my store.

Luckily, it's not a problem I have had to deal with often at my current store.

One place I worked, the pharmacy manager's policy was "we don't make mistakes". She had blinders on. You will make mistakes if you practice long enough, no matter how good you are. And, you don't get to pick the magnitude of your errors. That is why we have to stay vigilent and follow up on patient concerns so that hopefully mistakes get caught before they have consequences.
 
yep, yep....you will make a mistake. The best mistake you make is one that doesn't reach the patient, but sometimes you make one that does. My philosphy is begin as you mean to go on....be honest on your application and be honest in how you practice. Although some might say your goal is perfection, IMO - those folks don't live in the real world.
 
sdn1977 said:
yep, yep....you will make a mistake. The best mistake you make is one that doesn't reach the patient, but sometimes you make one that does. My philosphy is begin as you mean to go on....be honest on your application and be honest in how you practice. Although some might say your goal is perfection, IMO - those folks don't live in the real world.
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Words of wisdom. Every pharmacy student should read this and repeat as necessary.
 
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